Padlock



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UNTTED STATES PATENT @FETCH RHODOLPHUS KINSLEY, OF SPRINGFIELD,MASSACHUSETTS.

PADLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,452, dated December 7', 1852.

To all whom may concern.'

Be it known that I, RHoDoLrHUs KiNsLEY, of Springfield, in the county ofHampden and State of ll/lassachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Padlocks, and that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the principle or character' whichdistinguishes it from all other things before known and of the usualmanner of making, modifying, and using the same.

My improvements consist in the cheapness, convenience, and simplicity ofits construction and operation, together with its security against beingpicked, rendering it .valuable for the purposes of railroad cars.

The construction is as follows, reference being aad to the accompanyingdrawing which is a side view, with the front plate of the lock removed,and with the hasp shown in black lines locked. The red lines show a viewof the same unlocked.

The hasp (o) is either the segment of a circle, or of an eccentric form,as shown in the drawing, with a radial arm (o) extending from its rearend in toward the center, where it is pivoted at (0,) the shell (625,)of the lock is the segment of a circle, and may have aprojection (0,) atthe bottom for attachment; at the top of the lock where the end of thehasp enters, there is no opening, but a recess (f,), into which the endof the hasp ts when locked: the arm (6,) is enough thinner than the restof the hasp, to admit a tumbler (la) on either side, and from the sideof this thin part a triangular shaped stud projects, that catches on toa notch in the tumbler hereafter described; there is also anotherprojection at (70,) farther out on the arm, as a guard against picking;the tumblers (Z) are flat plates, slightly curved in their outline, andat their upper ends are notched, as shown in the figures: into thesenotches the studs (27,) fit; when the hasp is locked, the lower ends ofthe tumblers are pivoted upon a pin, just opposite the center of motionof the key: there is a lip extending down from the arm (5,) of the haspfor the bit of the key to strike against to throw the hasp forwardsufficient to relieve the tumblers which are then pushed back by saidbit from the studs (z',) till they are clear of them, and then the bitpasses the lip (b,) and thus releases the hasp, which fiies back by aspring, to be described; a projection (b2) beyond the fulcrum or centerof motion of the hasp, serves for the spring (m,) to rest against tothrow back the hasp and hold itsteadily back in the position shown inred lines till it is again locked; this feature is very important, anddiffers from other locks; the nearest approaching this in character. Thespring (m) is a loop of bent wire, the bight of which rests againsttheprojection (b2) above named, and thence the two parts curving downwardparallel pass und-er a stud (71,); the two ends curve up behind thetumblers to bear them up into their places; the eect of this doublespring, is, therefore, to hold the tumblers in place, and to throw thehasp back and hold it steadily in that position, the arrangement beingsuch that the spring is at its greatest tension when locked, or theinstant before precisely as it should be to produce the best effect. Thehasp is locked by turning it in the direction the reverse of the arrow,by applying the linger to a. projection (0,) on its outer face, unt-ilthe tumblers are free to be forced under it by the tension of thesprings, and the moment the hasp is released by the hand it is forcedback by the tension of the spring to lock itself in the notches in theend of the tumblers.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this lock is perfectly protectedagainst the usual mode of forcing open padlocks by blows applied to thecase and pressure to the hasp, for if a wedge be forced in under thehasp, it will thereby be prevented from turning forward, and unless itdoes turn forward by the key, the tumblers cannot be disengaged. lf aforce be applied to the hasp to turn it back, it will be resisted by thetumblers, which act as abutments or braces, and if it be first drawnforward to` disengage it from the tumblers, and the oase be then struckto throw back the tumblers by the jar, they are caught by the notchabove on the tumblers, and also acting under the tension of the springs(which are then greatest by reason of the forward position of the hasp)will keep their locking position, or resume it before the hasp can bereleased, and pass by them. Then the bolt is unlocked the rear portionof it is received within the body of the case, and there held by thetension of the springs, and prevented from dangling, while at the sametime the arrangement admits of the locking of the bolt without the key,two objects much desired in padlocks for cars.

The arrangement of the springs to act on the tuinblers and the hasp, andhaving a fulcruin at soine intermediate point, present the advantage ofexerting a greater force on the tuinblers when thrown in to hold theinin place7 and on the hasp to give it such an impetus at the start, as toinsure its being thrown open, even if some impediment should beaccidentally in the way.

Instead of making the springs otwires, they inay be inade of sheet metalseparated at one end to act separately on each tinnbler.

The number of tuinblers can be varied at pleasure, and the forni of thecase, hasp and tninblers may be varied at pleasure, so long as thatportion of the hasp, .which enters the case is the segment of the circleturning on a central axis, and the tuinblers be niade to receive aprojection at the back of the hasp7 or what is the equivalent, the haspbe inade with a recess, to receive a projection on the tuinblers.

QI/That I claim as my invention isl. Giving' a forward inotion to thehasp and acting upon the tulnblers by means of the saine key, when theparts are arranged so that the key acts directly upon a portion of thehasp substantially in the inanner described.

2. I claim the double acting spring herein described only when used inconnection with such a forni and arrangement of hasp as will cause it toactuate the tumblers and not only throw the hasp out but hold it thrownout and fully open in the manner described7 conning niy claim to thisdevice.

RI'IODOLPHUS KINSLEY.

lVitn-esses JAMES T. REID, JOHN SMITH.

